"Euphoria": Sydney Sweeney Reveals Cast Knew Rue Bennett's Death Was Coming

(Warning: This article may contain spoilers for the latest season of “Euphoria”)

The third and final season of “Euphoria” delivered a tragic blow to viewers in the finale, “In God We Trust,” as Rue Bennett (Zendaya) died after taking fentanyl-laced pills given to her by crime lord Alamo Brown (Adewale Akinnuoye‑Agbaje) after Maddy (Alexa Demie) mentioned Rue being involved as an informant for the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) in episode 7. Sydney Sweeney recently revealed that Rue’s ending was long known amongst the cast.

Cast Knew of Rue’s Fate For A Long Time

"Euphoria:" Rue Bennett thoughtfully upward in front of a bright, colorful ferris wheel at night, creating a dramatic and introspective mood. — Zendaya in Euphoria (2019) photo courtesy of © HBO 2019

In an interview with Variety, where she discussed her role in the show, Sydney Sweeney, who played Cassie Howard, revealed that the cast knew that Rue was going to die for a long time. She also explained that the cast were only given scripts for their scenes, which means that they didn’t have a full picture of how the storyline would unfold until much later.

She said, per Variety, “We didn’t get all the scripts. We were only given our specific scenes. We all knew that Rue was going to get killed off. We knew that for a long, long time, but we had no idea how or when it was going to happen.” She added, “So when I was watching it (finale episode) with everybody else, it was the first time that I even uncovered what was going to happen. I was crying.”

Sweeney even explained that the cast was sometimes surprised when they watched the episodes. After all, the cast did not have much access to the full scope of the story. “Euphoria” has had quite the reputation for intense storytelling and emotional character trajectories. Rue was at the front and center of much of the series’ emotional weight, and her arc shaped the tone of the show from the beginning.

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“Euphoria” Finale: How The Plot Threads Converge

The episode threads together several major arcs. Rue (Zendaya) flees after Faye (Chloe Cherry) betrays her, and Maddy (Alexa Demie) and Cassie (Sydney Sweeney) are shown grieving Nate’s body. Alamo (Adewale Akinnuoye‑Agbaje) gives Rue money and time off but leaves a bottle of pills within reach; later, Laurie’s cartel is raided, and Laurie takes her own life, as The Hollywood Reporter obtains her saying she “can’t go to prison.”

Rue, back at Ali’s house, sees news that Fezco has escaped and sets out to find him; a pastoral field sequence that recalls earlier seasons is revealed to be a dream. When Ali wakes, Rue is dead. The revelation that Alamo learned Rue had been an informant reframes the pills as deliberate poisoning. Ali’s grief turns to vengeance: he confronts Alamo at the strip club and fatally shoots him. Meanwhile, Cassie and Maddy plan to rent rooms in Cassie and Nate’s house to other OnlyFans creators to cover debts and transform the property into a content house.

Several original characters feel sidelined in the finale. Jules (Hunter Schafer) appears in a single, silent scene and has no final exchange with Rue; a flashback in Rue’s dream shows Jules riding a bike as in the pilot, but the two do not share a last moment. Lexi (Maude Apatow) declines Cassie’s plan and wrestles with Rue’s death and the fallout from Nate Jacobs’ (Jacob Elordi) killing.

“Euphoria” Leaves Things Unsettling

Nate was killed in episode 7 when a snake bit him after being buried alive by loan sharks, who he owed money to. Cassie does not tell Lexi the truth about Nate, instead saying he disappeared. The episode’s emotional weight is compounded by real‑world loss: a clip of Fezco and Rue in a field resonates because Angus Cloud, who played Fezco, died in 2023 of acute intoxication. That off‑screen tragedy informs how viewers and cast members experienced the finale.

By killing off Rue, the finale closes the story of a character who had been at the show’s moral and emotional center since season one. The ending reframes the series as a portrait of consequence and loss. For viewers and the cast alike, the final episode is both an ending and a provocation, a conclusion that will be debated as audiences revisit the series and its choices on how the story unfolded.